Abu Dhabi Investment Authority has become the latest large investor to bolster its direct dealmaking team with the hire of a veteran of European private equity firm Cinven.

The sovereign wealth fund confirmed it hired Pascal Heberling, a senior dealmaker at Cinven until last year, as a senior portfolio manager based in the capital of the United Arab Emirates last month.

It is the latest move by SWFs and public pension plans keen to build their direct investment capability to avoid paying fees and a cut of profits to fund managers.

Last month, Teachers’ Private Capital, the investment arm of Canadian pension fund Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, hired Iain Kennedy, a former senior executive at UK private equity firm Duke Street, to join its London team, which is led by former 3i dealmaker Jo Taylor. Omers Private Equity, the buyout arm of Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, has also been hiring deal executives.

Last May, Adia hired John McCarthy, a former global head of Deutsche Bank’s Rreef Infrastructure platform, as its global head of infrastructure.

The sovereign wealth fund has about $627 billion of assets under management, according to SWF Institute estimates, but about 75% of its assets are managed by third-party managers, according to its 2012 annual report released last May.